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August Commercial Chapter 11 Filings Increase 54 Percent Over Last Year

Total Bankruptcy Filings Up 18 Percent Year-Over-Year

Sept. 5, 2023 — There were 634 commercial chapter 11 filings registered in August 2023, an increase of 54 percent from the 411 filings registered in August 2022, according to data provided by Epiq Bankruptcy, the leading provider of U.S. bankruptcy filing data.

Overall commercial filings increased 14 percent to 2,328 in August 2023, up from the 2,045 commercial filings registered in August 2022. Small business filings, captured as subchapter V elections within chapter 11, increased 43 percent to 194 in August 2023, up from 136 in August 2022.

Total bankruptcy filings were 41,614 in August 2023, an 18 percent increase from the August 2022 total of 35,409. Individual bankruptcy filings totaled 39,286 in August 2023, also registering an 18 percent increase from the August 2022 33,364 filing total. There were 22,887 individual chapter 7 filings in August, a 21 percent increase versus the 18,851 filings in August 2022, and there were 16,341 individual chapter 13 filings in August, a 13 percent increase over the 14,457 filings the previous year.

August marks 13 consecutive months that total, individual and commercial bankruptcy filings have registered monthly year-over-year increases.

“The continued year-over-year increases indicate the anticipated growth of bankruptcy filings is becoming a reality,” said Gregg Morin, Vice President of Business Development and Revenue at Epiq Bankruptcy. “This emphasizes the critical role bankruptcy analytics plays in creating effective strategies and informed decisions when navigating an evolving market.”

August filing totals also registered increases across all filing categories when compared to July 2023. Commercial chapter 11 filings registered the largest gain from the previous month, as the August total increased 76 percent from the July chapter 11 filing total of 361. The commercial filing total represented a 17 percent increase from the July 2023 commercial filing total of 1,990. Subchapter V elections within chapter 11 increased 29 percent from the 150 filed in July 2023. August’s total bankruptcy filings represented a 17 percent increase when compared to the 35,718 total filings recorded in July. Total individual filings for August also represented a 16 percent increase from the July 2023 filing total of 33,728. Likewise, individual chapter 7s increased 18 percent and chapter 13s increased 15 percent from July.

“Elevated interest rates, rising prices due to inflation and resumption of student loan payments are just a few examples of the economic headwinds facing businesses and individuals,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “Struggling families and companies looking to find their financial footing are increasingly turning to the established path of bankruptcy.”

ABI has partnered with Epiq Bankruptcy to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers, and members of the news media. Epiq Bankruptcy is the leading provider of data, technology, and services for companies operating in the business of bankruptcy. Its Bankruptcy Analytics subscription service provides on-demand access to the industry’s most dynamic bankruptcy data, updated daily. Learn more at https://bankruptcy.epiqglobal.com/analytics.

About Epiq

Epiq, a global technology-enabled services leader to the legal industry and corporations, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action, and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at www.epiqglobal.com.

About ABI

ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.

Alexandria, Va. — An article by Alan T. Alexander in the Summer 2023 edition of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Law Review (Vol. 31, No. 2) examines the issues surrounding bifurcated fee agreements in chapter 7 cases, which enable debtors who cannot afford to file for bankruptcy to split their attorney fees into pre-petition and post-petition portions. The article summarizes the state of current bankruptcy law as it applies to bifurcated fee agreements, reviews relevant case law, and analyzes the policy arguments for and against bifurcated fee agreements. Alexander also identifies the characteristics that make such agreements more likely to be approved or rejected by the courts.

The other articles in the Summer 2023 issue of the ABI Law Review are:

·      “Increasing Transfer Security for Securities: Application of the Section 546(e) Safe Harbor to Trust Indentures,” by James Britton, Beth Brownstein and Justin Kesselman of ArentFox Schiff LLP.

·      “Treatment of Intellectual Property Licenses in Bankruptcy,” by Prof. M P Ram Mohan and Aditya Gupta of the Centre for Financial Markets and Economy at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in India.

·      “Is the End of FERC vs. the Bankruptcy Courts Upon Us?,” by Haig Najarian of Starwood Property Trust, Inc.

·      A student note, “Insider Leases in Bankruptcy: The Spanish Peaks Problem,” by Nicholas Smargiassi of St. John’s University School of Law.

ABI’s Law Review, published in conjunction with St. John’s University School of Law in Jamaica, N.Y., is among the most cited and respected scholarly publications in the bankruptcy community. Now in its 31st year, it has the largest circulation of any bankruptcy law review. Past issues of the Law Review have focused on a variety of timely insolvency issues, including chapter 11 reform, distressed sectors, single-asset cases, consumer bankruptcy, revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and other topics.

Members of the press looking to obtain any of the articles from the Summer 2023 issue should contact John Hartgen at 703-894-5935 or jhartgen@abi.org.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 10,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.